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Alberto Iglesias - The Dancer Upstairs OST (2002)

Alberto Iglesias is a fantastic Spanish composer most famous for his scores of Pedro Almodovar's excellent films. here he provides the music for John Malkovich's directorial debut, which is predictably pretty awesome in its own right. like another of my favorite film composers Osvaldo Golijov (who is now apparently Francis Ford Coppola's go-to music dude), Iglesias uses indigenous musical elements to flavor his compositions, most notably in the opener "Pasito" and "Calle Diderot." but what separates him from similar composers is his modern aesthetic, which incorporates contemporary techniques like dense swarms of microtonal strings ("Theatre") and prepared piano ("The Dancer Upstairs 1"), but pairs them with nods to traditional classical idioms. for instance "Blackout Violino", with it's little repeated pedal drone, reminds me of the superb fugue from Bartok's Solo Violin Sonata. altogether it's a compelling mishmash of styles that maintains a stark edge without losing the lushness essential to the emotional resonance of the score.